COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Illini take self-inventory before Penn State matchup

Sep. 16—CHAMPAIGN — Illinois coach Bret Bielema and staff spent last weekend taking a self inventory for the Fighting Illini football team.

Coming off a 34-23 loss to Kansas on Friday night meant that Illinois basically had a full day to look back on its first two games before starting its preparation for the No. 7-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions.

"We needed to do a self-inventory and have some difficult conversations, but you can grow from that," Bielema said. "The biggest thing for us is we can't let Kansas beat us twice. We have to focus on Penn State."

And that's what the Illini have done this week.

"Anytime you lose a game, I think you have to look at what you did well and what you didn't do well," Bielema said. "Nothing changes from this last week against Kansas to the first two years I've been here. Anytime you don't have success, you take a personal inventory of what you've done within a position room, within a unit, with a football team and try to make yourself better.

"(Kansas) is a game that we didn't have success and we have to get things corrected to move forward, but it's not a matter of dire straights. It's a matter of getting ourselves better."

And according to rankings — a lot better.

Penn State is 2-0 after wins over West Virginia (38-15) and Delaware (63-7), but both of those games were at home.

Today's game with Illinois will be the first road test for the Nittany Lions and the nationally-televised game at Memorial Stadium is also an 'Orange Out,' as all fans have been asked to wear orange.

"It should be a great atmosphere at Illinois, a great environment for college football," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "We opened our Big Ten season last year at Purdue. There was a black-out there."

Bielema admits that the Illini are not only excited to play the Nittany Lions, but to just play another football game.

"When you have a game like last Friday, to get back out there is what everyone wants, players, coaches and really fans, probably," Bielema said. "So, we are excited for the Penn State game. We anticipate a crowd probably as big as we've had since I've been here. Penn State is a highly ranked team for a reason, they're a good football team.

"But, I think our guys know and understand it's about what we do and how we handle the moment."

This isn't the first time that Illinois will enter a game against Penn State as a double-digit underdog, the Nittany Lions are a 14-point favorite.

As a matter of fact, the last time these two programs squared off, the Illini were a 24.5-point underdog in a game played in State College, Pa.

In the longest game played in college football history, Illinois defeated No. 7 Penn State 20-18 on a 2-point conversion pass from backup quarterback Brandon Peters to Casey Washington in the ninth overtime.

"I definitely brought it up to our guys Sunday night when we got together and talked about what is in front of us," said Bielema, knowing it would be a topic of conversation.

"They were ranked No. 7 in the country and we were 2-5 at the time. We needed something to stand on and that gave, according to a lot people, it when Illinois showed they belonged."

In Sunday's meeting, Bielema asked the players that were involved in that game to raise their hands.

"There were some guys in the first two rows that raised their hands," said Bielema.

On offense, the only key contributors on offense from that game are Danville native Julian Pearl on the offensive line, running backs Reggie Love III and Josh McCray, tight end Tip Reiman and then wide receivers Pat Bryant, Isaiah Williams and of course, Washington.

Defensively, Johnny Newton, Keith Randolph Jr. and Bryce Barnes are back along with linebackers Tarique Barnes, Seth Coleman and Ezekiel Holmes and defensive back Taz Nicholson.

"I don't know if there will ever be another game like that," Franklin said. "What it taught everyone in the country is you better have enough two-point plays in your playbook."

Today's game will be the first this season for sophomore defensive back Matt Bailey and Holmes, both players missed the first two games recovering from injuries.

"It will be nice to get Matthew back in the rotation," Bielema said.

"He embodies everything we need in the back end. He's been an assistant coach of sorts during practice. We're happy to have him back on the field."

Bielema also said that Pearl, who dislocated his finger in the Kansas game, is able to play this week.

Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. as the game will broadcast by Fox and heard locally on Busey Bank Illini Sports Network, including Danville stations WDAN-AM 1490, WDNL-FM 102.1.